Just imagine walking down the street and finding cash on the ground and there is no one in sight. What will you do? Will you keep it or hand it over to a police officer? Or will you try to find the owner? Give it to a charity or just keep it to yourself?

Finding cash on the ground is a very common scenario. There is a lot of confusion regarding it, whether you should keep it or try to track the owner, leave it there, or give it to the police. There is a lot at stake and no definite answer to what is right.

In this post, I have talked about what you should do when you find money on the ground.

Can You Keep It?

Since the laws regarding finding cash on the ground are hazy, you can do what you think is better. It is advised to return the cash to the owner or hand into the police station. If you keep the cash, it is known as theft by finding.

What if the Amount is Less and No Way of Knowing Where it Came From?

In such circumstances, it gets a little confusing and complicated. To understand if it will be a crime to keep the cash or not, you have to understand what is classified as theft.

Theft is if a person dishonestly keeps a property belonging to another person; this includes cash as well. Since the lost cash is someone else’s property, it will be a crime to keep it.

You can keep the cash and it will not be a crime if you the owner was untraceable and you have taken all the measures to find them including going to the police.

What Should You Do When You Find a Winning Lottery Ticket?

If you find a winning lottery ticket, you should, definitely, return it to the owner. It will be wrong not to return it. Nowadays, there are several security checks to prevent fraud. The security checks include asking questions like from where you bought the ticket or did you pay through card or cash. If they are suspicious, they can check the CCTV footage of the shop. In case you get caught, it will be a criminal offense.

So, even if you keep the lottery ticket, you will not be able to claim it. That is why it is advised to return the ticket to its original owner. You can cut a deal with the owner and get paid for giving it back instead of claiming it.

Another thing that you can do is sign the ticket if it is unsigned. It is believed whoever holds the unsigned ticket, owns it. So, if you find a winning lottery ticket and it is unsigned, you can sign it. In that case, it will be yours and you will not have to prove anything such as where you bought it or how did you pay, etc.

Therefore, it is advised to find the owner or take it to the police station.

What will you do if you find a winning lottery ticket? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!